Masquerade
by ShinyVampiricArmor
Summary: The Goblin King and The Phantom are real, and it's been a year since they had their hearts ripped out. Both decide that they need to move on with their life so they enroll in Blank University. What happens when they each meet a girl who wants to help?
1. Rince De

_**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own The Labyrinth or The Phantom of the Opera. Nor do I own Rince De.

_**Summary:**_ The Goblin King and The Phantom are real, and it's been a year since they had their hearts ripped out. Both decide that they need to move on with their life so they enroll in Blank University. What happens when they each meet a girl who wants to help them forget their past? Will they let their hearts heal or will they close everything and everyone out forever?

_**A/N:**_ This is a Labyrinth PotO crossover along with the modern world. All chapter titles are songs that represent the chapter. The prologue's title is Rince De, a song by Michael W. Smith. It is an introduction to the story. This story wouldn't exist without the much needed help of my dear friend Dreamjedi. You rock!

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Prologue

Rince De

Jareth walked down the main sidewalk of the campus of Blank University. He had his pale golden hair back in a low ponytail and his dual colored eyes gazed over the buildings that housed several of the classes. _This seems like as good a place as any to get on with my life. I've spent far too much time on _her_ as it is._ He thought as his feet guided him to the door of Rune Hall, the building that the boy's dorms were in.

A cool breeze flowed across the campus as he opened the door and walked into the building. _I wonder who they have me rooming with._ He thought idly as he waited for the elevator because his room was on the fourth floor of the building. Though he knew his roommates name, Erik, he had never met him because he was not there when Jareth was moving his things into the room.

XxXxX

Erik sighed as he walked into his room. He had moved into Rune Hall at Blank University the day before and the place was still strange. He missed the depths of his opera house. He missed hearing the beautiful voice of… No, he wouldn't think of her. After all he had moved to America and enrolled in Blank University in order to forget about her and move on with his life.

He looked around the room as the door closed behind him. His side of the room, by the window was just as it had been left. His bed was sort of low to the ground and made up with his black comforter. His electric keyboard was still against the wall next to it and his desk was still cluttered with all his schoolbooks. His clothes were still in their box, aside from the ones that needed to hung up which were in his closet covered by a black curtain. The other side of the room was now filled with boxes that had yet to be unpacked. Erik's new roommate, Jareth, had arrived.

Erik walked over to his side of the room and sat in his desk chair with a sigh. He started to go through his schoolbooks and put them in the drawer of the desk. Once he had the desk cleaned off he went to his box and started to put his clothes into the fake wood dresser. Just as he put the last of his clothes away he heard a key in the door and it slid open slowly.

Erik's first impression was simple. He was blonde. They had roomed him with a blonde. Lovely. However, upon a second inspection he noticed something more. Yes, the man was blonde, but he held himself with an almost arrogance. The two men looked at each other for a long moment, measuring.

Finally, the blonde stepped forward, letting the door to the room fall closed behind him. "You would be Erik then?"

Erik nodded, "And you must be Jareth." He held his hand out to the blonde. Jareth looked at Erik for another long moment before grasping the outstretched hand.

"I am." Jareth noted the gloves on Erik's hands and allowed a smirk to appear on his features. "Leather gloves?"

Erik had already noticed his roommate wore the same. He nodded curtly, pulling his hand back.

"Ah well, that's life for you." Jareth turned to his side of the room, "Do you know your field of study?"

"Music. And yours?"

There was a long pause as Jareth didn't move. Unseen to Erik, a flash of pain darted across Jareth's face. "I am studying…life at the moment."

Erik looked at Jareth's back before turning back to his desk. "As long as studying life doesn't include women then we will get along." Twin looks of pain crossed the men's faces.

"You have my word, it does not."

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_**A/N:**_ Well, please tell me what you thought of the Prologue. I will try my best to update this story at least once a month, but I can give you no guarantees. R&R please!!!


	2. Learn to be Lonely

_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own it!!!

_**A/N:**_ Okay I know that I said I would update once a month and I didn't update last month, but that's okay. This chapter is long :D. Learn to be Lonely is a song by Andrew Lloyd Webber sung by the girl that played Carlotta in the movie, please listen to the song either while or before you read the chapter. Special thanks to Dreamjedi for helping me to write this story!!!!! Please review!

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Chapter One

Learn To Be Lonely

Morrigan sat up suddenly, her red hair in tangles from the way she had been sleeping. Her strange green eyes scanned the dark room to find that everything was just as it had been when she went to sleep.

The bed on the other side of the room was empty because her roommate, Autumn, had decided to stay the night in one of their friend's room. The two desks in the center of the same wall were cluttered with school books and the computer Morrigan called her monstrosity. Across from the desks was Autumn's dresser with her 19in T.V and PS2 on it. To the left of the dresser was both girls' closet. Morrigan's dresser was at the foot of her bed. The ugly white tile floor was covered by a giant red rug and a small blue and green one.

Morrigan looked at the clock on her shelf over her bed. "OH NO!" She said when she saw it was five minutes before 8:00 A.M. "This is not good!" She said as she flung her comforter off of her and jumped out of the bed. She quickly got dressed in her black jeans and Legend of Zelda t-shirt with her green jacket over it. She grabbed her purple and white backpack and her green purse before running out of the dorm room to hurry and get to her class.

She ran out of the dorm hall and into the cold winter air, thankful that she had remembered to put her jacket on. She didn't stop to think as she ran across the street. She ran down the sidewalk, not noticing the pear trees that she would have usually been staring at as she walked to class.

She was so lost in thought about hoping her teacher wouldn't be mad at her that she didn't notice the guy walking at a leisurely pace in front of her… that is until she ran into his back. Morrigan stumbled back and dropped her purse as she nearly fell.

The man turned around to see who had run into him. Morrigan looked up at him. He had his pale golden hair in a low ponytail that reached just above his shoulder blades. His semi long bangs were out of the ponytail and falling in his face. He had one sapphire blue eye and one ice blue eye. He was around 6 feet tall and well built. He wore a button down royal blue long sleeve shirt with the sleeves folded up to his elbow and dark wash blue jeans that flowed over his black leather boots.

_He's kinda cute._ Morrigan thought as the man smiled warmly at her. "Oh no! I'm sorry! Really, but I gotta go!" She said picking up her purse and running past the man. She ran up the steps of the building her class was in and opened the door. She ran down the hall in a hurry until she was just outside of her statistics class. She took a breath and walked calmly into the class that had already started and took her seat at the front of the room.

Fortunately, the stats professor was still reviewing the homework from Friday. The girl beside her leaned over and whispered "Number 15." Morrigan smiled, pulled her homework out and turned to number 15. She glanced at the problem, and checked it against what the professor had put on the board. Once she was sure she had gotten it right she zoned out until all she could hear of the professor was enough to know he hadn't moved on to the day's lecture.

Two shadows passed across Morrigan's desk as the professor spoke, but she was too busy being relieved and wondering about the boy she had run into. Just as she was about to spin her thoughts from strange boys and running into them to dragons and swords, the professor began the lecture on bell curves.

The class went by rather quickly and, like always, Morrigan was one of the first people out of the room. Without a second thought she made her way across the campus to her Spanish class.

XxXxX

Autumn sat in her Algebra class waiting for the teacher to arrive. She pulled out three pieces of paper and her pencil. She wrote the date, January 10, 2010, in the top left corner of the page to keep her notes in order. She sighed and began to play with her dark chocolate brown hair as her gleaming brown eyes scanned over the class room.

After a long moment she pulled her phone out of her cargo pants see what time it was. _8:08 A.M._ She sighed and started to pack her things back into her bag, figuring that the teacher was a no show. He only had two minutes to get to the class before the kids would start to walk out. _How am I ever going to learn anything in this class if the teacher never shows up? _Autumn thought as the other students began to pack up and walk out.

When she got back to the dorm room she shared with Morrigan she set her bag on the floor by her bed and sat at her desk with a sigh. She looked around casually, noticing Morrigan's half of the room looked unusually chaotic. Knowing she had fifty free minutes, she turned back to her desk. There was nothing of any importance on the desk, because her laptop was tucked away in its case ready to go to her next class, Western Civilization, so she pulled her Chemistry book out of the little cubby hole and opened it to her homework. She finished what little of the work she had left in twenty minutes and was left with nothing to do for the next ten minutes, so she sat there and daydreamed until her mental alarm told her it was time to go.

She stood and picked up her backpack and laptop case and walked out of the room, turning the light off as the door closed. She looked at her phone to find that she had one minute to get downstairs and outside before the shuttle that would take her to the other campus left. She ran quickly out the side door of the dorm hall just in time to see the shuttle pull away from its stop. "Oh great…" She said and sat on the curb with a sigh to wait fifteen minutes for the shuttle to make its round trip.

"You missed it too?" A male voice said from behind Autumn. She looked up to see the person that sat behind her and to the right in Western Civilization. She didn't know the boy's name so she just nodded and looked down at the street. The boy sat on the curb next to her, "So did you do the extra credit that Hesse assigned?" He asked her.

Autumn looked over at the boy, her eyes big, "There was extra credit?!?" She asked him frantic. _I can't believe there was extra credit and I didn't know about it?!?_ She added in her mind.

The boy laughed softly, "Yeah, we were supposed to write like 600 words about the movie from Friday." He said reminding her that she had not paid any attention to the class on Friday, she was too busy sleeping.

"Dang it…" She said hanging her head lowly. _And I wonder why I fail that class, aside from the fact that I don't understand history…_

The boy laughed again, "It's okay, I didn't do it either, besides he will give more extra credit later." He stood now because the shuttle was rounding the corner of the cross street.

Autumn stood after she had her bag and laptop case back in her hand. A few people got out of the shuttle as it stopped at the corner of the street Autumn was on. She made her way to the corner and walked up the stairs of the shuttle. She took a seat in the middle and let thoughts drift a million miles away.

Thankfully, when she got to class the teacher hadn't arrived yet. She took her seat at the end of first table, that sat three people, by the wall. "Hey what's up?" She greeted her friend, Theodore, who sat behind her.

"Hey." He said before looking back at his notes.

_He's a poo head as per usual…_ Autumn thought as she pulled her small Acer laptop out of the case and turned it on. The screen flashed to her log in screen just as the teacher walked into the room. She quickly put in her password and opened her notes while Dr. Hesse logged on to the classroom computer.

As the teacher droned on about the French Revolution, a topic that Autumn had heard about a million times, she took notes quickly. She was so busy taking notes that she didn't notice there was a knock on the closed wooden door. The teacher continued talking as he stood and walked over to the door, when he looked to see who was on the other side though, he stopped talking. "Ah, the transfer student. Please take a seat." Dr. Hesse said as he ushered the new student into the room.

Autumn looked up from her laptop to see who the transfer student was. He wore a black button down shirt that fit him in a semi loose manner and black slacks. His black hair was slicked back and on the right side of his face was a white mask.

_Really now? … Seriously? He's wearing a mask like Erik?_ Autumn thought as the she moved her stuff from the seat next to her because he was making his way to that seat. She leaned her bag against the wall and went back to attempting to take notes, but now her mind was distracted from class work so she tuned the teacher out and started to daydream about an anime she had been watching with her roommate recently.

"You're dismissed." was the next thing that Autumn heard. In a daze, she grabbed her stuff from against the wall and put her laptop in its case. Then she stood and, forgetting that there was someone sitting next to her, walked right into the transfer student.

He looked up at her as he slipped his notes into his black binder. That was when she noticed that he had jade green eyes. "Sorry," She whispered, "I forgot you were there."

"It's alright." He said in a soft voice as he stood. "I'm Erik." He said with a smile.

_What the dickens? He's real?!?!_ Autumn thought rather loudly as she tried to keep a calm demeanor on the outside. She was just about to introduce herself when the guy that waited for the shuttle with her earlier reminded her not to miss the shuttle again. "Oh, sorry I have to go." She said as she walked past Erik and out of the classroom quickly.

Her mind circled around Erik, the man she had been so sure was a fictional character, and how he was now magically real as she rode the shuttle back to the dorms. Not to mention he was going to her university and he sat next to her in her Western Civ class.

As she opened the door to the room she shared with Morrigan she began talking frantically, "Oh my goodness you WON'T believe what happened to me today!"

Morrigan rolled her eye as she looked at her roommate who was practically jumping in place as she closed the door, "What, no 'Hey Morrigan. How is your day so far?'? Yes because I don't have _anything_ remotely interesting to talk to you about." She said in her usual sarcastic manner.

Autumn sighed and sat in her chair, still bouncing and hyper. "Hey Morrigan. How is your day so far?" She asked mimicking her roommate.

Morrigan smiled, knowing that something really amazing must have happened in one of her classes, but blew it off, wanting to tell her about her mishap that morning. "Well, I ran into a really cute guy… Literally…" She said.

Instantly Autumn was interested, "What did he look like?" _I wonder if she ran into Erik too… if so I don't think she would be this calm, I know I'm not…_ She thought as she waited for Morrigan to answer her.

"Cute?" Morrigan said as if it was a question.

Autumn sighed, "No _physically_!" She clarified. _There's no way that it was Erik if she is asking if cute is the answer… Although Erik _is _insanely cute…_

Morrigan smiled, "I don't remember…" She said sadly.

Autumn rolled her eyes, "Then how do you know he was cute?" _Yeah, there is no way that it was Erik because there is no way that Morrigan would forget what he looked like, I mean it's really _really_ hard to forget that man._

"Well, before I ran off because I was late, I thought 'He's kinda cute.'." Morrigan replied.

Autumn looked at her with her 'Really now?' look before perking up, "Forget about that, you won't believe what just happened!"

"Yes, you've already told me that. So what happened?" Morrigan asked eager to learn what had her roommate all excited.

Autumn sat up in her chair and began talking excitedly, "I ran into Erik!"

"The prince from The Little Mermaid? The Scandinavian guy in my book? Which Erik? You have to specify!" Morrigan told Autumn trying to figure out which Erik she was talking about.

Autumn sighed and glared at Morrigan, "Who do you think?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked up at Morrigan's stack of movies.

Morrigan had a blank look on her face, "Uhh… Erik the Shakespeare guy from that book you read?"

Autumn closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She sat like that for a long moment before looking back at her friend, "No, Erik the _Phantom._" She said pointing up to the movie that was on the shelf over Morrigan's bed.

"He's real?" Morrigan asked amusement in her voice. She clearly thought that her roommate had lost her mind and was going crazy.

"Well if it wasn't him it was a really good impersonator. I mean he had black hair that was slicked back and was wearing all black. He had the mask on and green eyes. His name was Erik and his voice was hot!" Autumn was speaking in a rush of excitement and some of her words ran together.

"Uh-huh, Fall, stop going to sleep in your Western Civ. class." Morrigan said, using her nickname for Autumn.

"I wasn't asleep this really happened! I swear that I wasn't asleep because I was taking notes in class!" Autumn said defensively.

Morrigan raised an eyebrow, "_You,_ Autumn, took _notes _in your Western Civilization class. I'll believe it when I see it."

"It's true, I'll show you!" Autumn said pulling her laptop out and opening it. When she got it started up and her notes open she stared at the screen for a second, "Dang it… I stopped taking notes about two minutes after class started because that's when he got into the room. But I swear that this really happened. You know me Morrigan I wouldn't make this up!" Autumn was trying, desperately, to get her friend to believe that what she was saying was true.

"Not consciously, but I've heard about your dreams woman." Morrigan looked at the time on her computer and stood, "Come on you've got to get to Chemistry and I have to get to New Testament."

"But-"

"Chemistry."

"I'm te-"

"Chemistry."

"Fine."

XxXxX

_Maybe I did imagine the whole thing. I have been known to have some really crazy dreams, and it wouldn't be the first time that I've had a dream where a fictional character enters the real world. _Autumn thought as she mindlessly copied what her Chemistry professor was writing on the chalk board.

XxXxX

_I think that Fall is on crack. I mean really thinking that Erik the Phantom was real. She has finally lost her mind to the point where I am worried about her. I wonder what my psych professor would think of this if I told her about it._ Morrigan thought as her New Testament Professor talked about the book of 1st Thessalonians. _Then again I don't want my roommate to be in The Funny Farm so maybe I shouldn't tell her about this._ She rethought.

XxXxX

Autumn and Morrigan took their seats at the lunch table with their food of a hamburger and French fries. "So did you have any more _dreams_ while you were in Chemistry class?" Morrigan asked as she poured an insane amount of salt on her fries.

Autumn watched her friend put the salt on her fries with a disgusted look, "No, because it was real." She said still holding true to her word about the whole thing being real.

"Right, sure it was." Morrigan said before looking behind Autumn, "Hey, Kari." She greeted their friend.

Kari sat her stuff in the booth next to Morrigan, said hi, and went to go get her food. Kari had shoulder length sun-streaked blond hair and brown eyes. She was five foot and half an inch (and yes that half inch was very important, thank you very much) tall and so skinny she had to shop in the little girls section to find clothes that would fit her right.

"Okay, since you won't believe that I really met him, let's talk about something else." Autumn suggested as she ate one of her fries.

"Okay something else. When they let you out of The Funny Farm did you _tell _them you were seeing fictional characters or did you lie to them?" Morrigan asked sarcastically.

"Seriously Morrigan I don't wanna talk about… Hey Erik…" Autumn said looking up at the man that was standing a few feet away from the booth looking at her.

Morrigan sat there pointing to unseen words as she mouthed what her friend had just said. "So you _lied_ to them." She said when she was finished.

Autumn looked back at Morrigan, "No, meet Erik." She motioned to the man that was still standing a few feet away.

Morrigan looked over at the man, _Wow he looks hot in normal clothes._ She thought as she registered his appearance. "Hi Erik." She looked back at Autumn, "I believe you now." She said with a smile.

Erik stepped forward and held something out to Autumn. "I think that this is yours." He said in his soft voice.

It took Autumn a second to realize that Erik was holding her purple slim Razor cell phone. "Oh thanks. How did you get my phone?" She asked as she took the phone from him.

At this point Morrigan started to laugh hysterically behind her hand, but it was low laughter so that neither Autumn nor Erik could hear her, although Autumn knew that she was laughing.

"It was in your seat after you left to catch the shuttle." He replied letting his hand fall to the table.

Autumn looked down, "Oh," She looked back up at him, "Thank you Erik."

He smiled slightly, "You're welcome." The smile faded, "What's your name?" He asked.

"Oh, it's Fall… I mean Autumn." She told him, and her face went slightly pink at messing up her own name. _Wow, I'm an idiot._ She added in her mind.

"You're named after a season?" Erik asked with amusement in his voice, clearly not minding that she had messed up her name.

"And her state of gracefulness." Morrigan said coming out of her fits of laughter.

Erik laughed and Autumn glared at Morrigan, "Like you're one to talk!" she said in fake anger.

Morrigan was about to give one of her famous one liner, snarky comments when Erik asked her what her name was. "Morrigan." She said matter-of-factly and glared at Autumn.

Suddenly a backpack was put into the booth next to Autumn and everyone looked over to see Theodore walking away to get his food.

"Well I've-" Erik started but was cut off by someone walking up and talking to him.

"Hey Erik, did you eat already?" the man asked, not looking over at the table Erik was standing near.

"I told you." Morrigan said to Autumn, gaining a confused glance from her. Morrigan sighed, "Never mind." she looked back up at Erik and the man she had run into that morning when she was late to class.

"Yes." Erik replied before looking back at Autumn and Morrigan. "Autumn, Morrigan, I would like you to meet my roommate, Jareth" He introduced the man beside him.

The girls looked at each other. _Jareth and Erik? What are the odds?_, Morrigan thought at the same time Autumn was thinking, _Jareth, The Goblin King Jareth? He's real too?_. They both looked up at Jareth with a smile, "So, where are you from?" they asked in unison.

"You guys have _got_ to stop with the twin talk." Kari said as she sat her food on the table and Erik moved back slightly.

Jareth smiled, "Trust me, you wouldn't know of it."

"Try us." They said, speaking in unison again.

"Seriously _stop_ doing that! It's freaky!" Kari said getting freaked out as she ate a forkful of rice.

"But it's fun!" Autumn and Morrigan said, still twin talking.

Jareth raised an eyebrow, "It is kind of… freaky…" He said carefully before glancing at Erik then looking back at the table. "I am sorry, but we must be leaving. It was nice to meet you." He nodded to everyone at the table before turning on his heel and heading for the door.

Erik said his goodbyes before following after his roommate.

The second that the two were out of the cafeteria Morrigan and Autumn erupted in laughter.

"Is there some joke I'm not in on?" Kari asked as she ate another forkful of rice.

XxXxX

Jareth woke up in a foul mood, as per usual in the past year. Suddenly he sat up, realizing that he was not in his castle and looked around the room in a daze before his eyes fell on the bed across the room when he saw movement there. Slowly he remembered that he had left The Underground and was now enrolled in a human college.

He sighed heavily, _All this to forget about _her. He thought before climbing out of his bed that he had made more comfortable than the springs it had been before he enchanted it. He snapped his fingers and the lights in the room turned on, causing Erik, his roommate, to sit up and glare at him angrily.

Jareth simply shrugged it off and went about getting ready for his first day of classes. Once he changed out of his midnight blue, silk pajama pants into a royal blue, button down, long sleeve shirt and dark wash blue jeans, he sat at his desk reading a report from his '_Acting King_'.

At around seven thirty Erik stood, "I'm going to go get some breakfast."

Jareth looked up from the report to his roommate, "Don't be late to class on the first day." He said simply.

Jareth heard Erik mutter something he didn't quite understand before walking out of the room. The fae sighed and sat the report on his desk, _I suppose a walk might get my mind off of work for a while._ He thought before pulling on his black leather boots.

He walked around the campus a few times before he realized that he was late to his statistics class and started to make his way to the science and math building that his class was in. Just as he was about five yards away from the building he felt something soft bump into him.

He slowly turned around to find that a girl had run into him. She had long, shiny red hair that was probably just below her waist and odd green eyes that looked sort of like green smoke. She was wearing a citrus green jacket over a chocolate brown shirt and black jeans. She had a purple messenger bag with white flowers on it and there was an odd green purse of the ground behind her.

Jareth's mask of emotion instantly went up and he smiled warmly at the girl. He was about to say hello when she suddenly started talking franticly, "Oh no! I'm sorry! Really, but I gotta go!" She picked up her purse before quickly running past him and into the building.

He sighed heavily, _Humans are imposable. Why did I even come here?_ He thought as he started to make his way to the building.

"And you told me not to be late." A familiar voice said from beside Jareth.

The Goblin King looked over to find Erik walking beside him with a soft grin, "I was… lost in thought." Jareth chose his words carefully, he didn't want to tell Erik that he had walked around campus thinking about the woman that had caused him so much misery. "Why are _you_ late?"

The grin disappeared from Erik's face and he glared at Jareth, "I have my reasons." He said as he opened the glass door of the science and math building.

Jareth shot a glare at Erik, but didn't say anything else as they walked into the classroom. The teacher was going over some assignment from before the boys got to the class and motioned for them to sit down. They walked to the only two empty seats which were the second and third desk of the second row. Jareth took the second one behind a girl with a citrus green jacket and long red hair.

_Hm. Didn't the girl that ran into me have red hair?_ He asked himself, but dismissed the thought as the professor moved on to the day's lecture over bell curves.

XxXxX

Erik sighed inwardly as he watched Jareth's eyes follow after a girl with long red hair. "I thought studying life didn't have to do with women." He said to his roommate as he put his notes in his black binder.

Jareth scowled at him, "It doesn't. I think she ran into me earlier. I was trying to get a look at her face to be sure." He replied standing.

Erik stood as well and the teacher motioned them over to where he was erasing the blackboard. "I would like to welcome you to Blank University, I am Professor Smith." He smiled warmly and held his hand out to the boys.

Once Professor Smith was done telling them what he expected out of his class and handing them each a syllabus to read, Erik made his way to the student parking lot at the front of campus and climbed into his black McLaren P11. He sighed when he saw that his nine o'clock class at the other campus should have started about six minutes before.

Quickly he made his way over the bridge and to the other campus that had been shown to him the day he got there. He knocked on the wooden door to his Western Civilization class and, with the professor still lecturing, the door opened. The professor was a short chubby man with balding brown hair and when he looked at Erik he stopped his lecture. "Ah, the transfer student. Please take a seat." he told Erik in an annoying nasal voice before starting his lecture again and walking back to the stool in the corner.

Erik quickly made his way to the first table that fit three people. He was going to take the seat on the end, but the girl sitting by the wall had moved her stuff for him, so he took the seat next to her. He didn't have time to introduce himself so he pulled out a couple pieces of paper and started to take notes as the girl beside him started to type her notes on the laptop she had in front of her. A few minutes later she stopped typing and stared at the screen blankly, lost in thought or daydreams.

Erik took notes over the French Revolution, a topic he already knew about because he had read several books about it when he was at his opera house. As Erik took the notes he let his mind wander and when he looked at the paper some forty minutes later he discovered that he had written a letter to _her_ complete with his old signature of O.G. He sighed inwardly as he started to put his notes away. He looked up as the girl that was sitting next to him walked right into him.

"Sorry," She whispered, clearly embarrassed, "I forgot you were there."

Erik saw a bit of shock pass over the girl's face before it was gone. He figured it was about his mask. "It's alright." He said in his soft voice as he stood. "I'm Erik." He smiled a fake smile at the girl.

The girl was just about to tell him her name when someone spoke to her, "The shuttle leaves in two minutes." The boy said standing at the door.

"Oh, sorry I have to go." the girl said, making her way past Erik and out of the room in a rush.

_Of course she's scared of me. I'm a creepy man who wears a mask, who wouldn't be afraid of me?_ Erik turned to pick up his things, and saw something purple out of the corner of his eye. He gingerly picked up the cell phone. _Where did this come from? The girl?_ Sighing, Erik pocketed the phone and went out to his car. He paused and looked at his car. It stood out, badly. Oh well. It was elegant and black, two very important requirements for anything he owned.

As he walked back into his room, Erik noticed his roommate was lounging on his bed reading a missive of some sort. Jareth looked up.

"And how was class?" Jareth asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Odd. We discussed the French Revolution."

Jareth laughed lightly. "I'm sure that was boring for you. Anything interesting happen?"

Erik shot his roommate a look. "A woman ran into me and dropped her phone."

"And you tell me not to study women? You already have access to a girl's phone number."

Erik glared at Jareth and turned to his keyboard. "I am not taking her phone number. What have you been doing for the past hour?"

Jareth smirked at Erik. "Reading."

Erik, ignoring his roommate, played a simple arpeggio. Music was his life, but thinking about his reason for composing was a curse. The woman that had stolen his heart for so long, _she_ had been his reason for composing. _She_ had been his life for years, and so her choosing another had cost him everything, his opera house, his inspiration to compose, and her. He had lived in the darkness for about a year after she left before he decided that he needed to move on and try to get along with other people. So, he moved to the states and enrolled in college.

After about thirty minutes, of trying to compose something and failing, Erik sighed and turned away from his keyboard to his empty desk. _I really need to get something to fill up this desk. _Erik thought as he looked up to find his roommate looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?" He asked the man.

"I know that look. You're thinking about a woman." Jareth said simply as he stood and placed what he was reading in the drawer to his desk.

"Actually I was thinking about something to put on this desk." Erik paused, "Don't you have class to get to?"

Jareth looked at the clock on his desk before gabbing his bag and walking out the door with a, "Goodbye.".

Erik sighed before leaning back into his chair with his eyes closed to daydream about a better time in his life.

At around eleven forty-five he decided that he was hungry and made his way to the cafeteria for lunch. None of the food looked appetizing to him, so he grabbed a salad and a bowl of sliced apples. He ate in silence at the back of the room, watching other people laugh and talk about things that really didn't matter.

Erik was just about to get up and leave when he spotted the girl from his Western Civ class walking into the room. She was laughing at some unheard joke told by her friend as they put their things on the table of the first booth. As she started to walk away to get her food she looked over her shoulder and glared at her red haired friend before walking off.

Erik sighed and pulled out the small purple cell phone. _I should return this._ He thought before standing and grabbing his plate. He walked across the room to the thing that moves and takes the dishes to be washed. Deciding he was thirsty he walked to the fountain drinks and grabbed a glass of water, downing it quickly before walking back to the thing that moves and takes the dishes to be washed._  
_

He glanced back over towards the girl from his class. She was now sitting and arguing with her friend. That was…alright. Two girls. Not that scary. Neither of them looked like…her. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the table to hear "…I don't wanna talk about…" She looked up at him, "Hi Erik." Her voice was surprised.

Her friend pointed to something unseen in the air before she spoke, "So you _lied_ to them."

The girl from his class looked back at her friend with a small glare, "No, meet Erik." She said motioning towards Erik.

Her friend looked up at Erik, shock registering on her face before a smile replaced it, "Hi Erik." She said softly before turning to the other girl, "I believe you now." She said with the same smile.

Erik pulled the purple phone from his pocket and held it out to the girl before taking a couple steps toward the table, "I think that this is yours." _Of course she would have been so scared of me she would tell someone._ He thought, referring to the 'I believe you now.' comment.

It took a second before realization spread across the girls face. "Oh thanks. How did you get my phone?" She asked, taking the phone from Erik.

_She didn't realize her phone was missing? I thought that girls always knew where their phone was… I must have scared her more than I thought._ Erik thought as he noticed the other girl hide her mouth behind her hand in laughter. "It was in your seat after you left to catch the shuttle." He replied before letting his hand fall to the table.

The girl looked down, probably to make sure the hand Erik let fall to the table didn't suddenly reach out and choke her to death, "Oh," She looked back up at him, "Thank you Erik."

Erik smiled slightly, missing his garrote, "You're welcome." The smile faded as he realized that his train of thought had made him think of _her_, "What's your name?" He asked, distracting himself from his mind.

"Oh, it's Fall… I mean Autumn." The girl said instantly, a pink color filling her face from messing up her name.

"You're named after a season?" Erik asked, without realizing. _That was rude… I should-_

"And her state of gracefulness." her friend said coming out of her fits of laughter and breaking Erik's train of thought.

Erik laughed softly before he realized it and Autumn glared at her friend, "Like you're one to talk!" she said in fake anger.

Erik suppressed another laugh before he looked over at Autumn's friend. She looked like she had a really good comeback, but Erik didn't want to laugh again, it was… unusual for him. "And yours?" He asked her.

"Morrigan." She said before glaring at Autumn.

Just as Erik was about to say something a backpack was put into the booth next to Autumn. He looked over to see a curly haired boy walking away to get his food. _I wonder who that is._ Erik thought idly before turning back to the table, "Well I've-" He started to say that he had to go, but Jareth walked up and started talking to him.

"Hey Erik, did you eat already?" Jareth asked, not even noticing that Erik was talking to someone.

"I told you." Morrigan said to Autumn, gaining a confused glance from her. Morrigan sighed, "Never mind." she looked back up at Erik and Jareth.

"Yes." Erik replied before looking back at Autumn and Morrigan. "Autumn, Morrigan, I would like you to meet my roommate, Jareth"

_And he says that I shouldn't study women and here he is talking to two. _Jareth thought as he nodded to each one, _Isn't that the girl that ran into me this morning?_ He asked himself as he saw Morrigan.

Suddenly both girls looked up at him with a smile, "So where are you from?" They asked in sync.

"You guys have _got_ to stop with the twin talk." A girl said as she sat her food on the table next to Morrigan.

Jareth smiled, noticing Erik take a step back from the table. "Trust me, you wouldn't know of it." He said to the two girls. _Humans really are a strange species._

"Try us." The two girls said in unison again.

_Okay, these two are a bit more than strange…_ Jareth added in his mind.

"Seriously _stop_ doing that! It's freaky!" the other girl said as she ate a forkful of rice.

"But it's fun!" Autumn and Morrigan said, still talking at the same time.

Jareth raised an eyebrow, "It is kind of… freaky_…" Not exactly the word I would use, but it is more acceptable to blend in with humans._ He glanced at Erik, seeing an uncomfortable look on his face before looking back at the table. "I am sorry, but we must be leaving. It was nice to meet you." He nodded to everyone at the table before turning on his heel and heading for the door. _You owe me lunch for this._ He thought as Erik caught up to him.

"What was that about?" Jareth asked his roommate as they made their way up the stairs of the building to the school's restaurant.

"I was returning her cell phone." Erik replied, _I think that he has issues even looking at women._ He added as an afterthought. _Not that I blame him, I do too._


	3. All The Time

**_Disclaimer:_** I do not own Jareth or Erik or anything related to their respective stories!

**_A/N:_** Yes, it has been a while since I updated... I appologize... but it was worth it... this is a long chapter... Remember Listen to All The Time by Barry Manilow for this chapter :D Review please! :D

* * *

Chapter Two

All The Time

As Skillet poured from Morrigan's alarm clock, Morrigan groaned. It was a typical Tuesday. This meant Morrigan was awake, unhappily, while Autumn slept on in bliss…unless she was getting killed in her freaky dreams again. Morrigan reached the alarm and shut Skillet off. _Shower…then…other stuff._ Morrigan hopped off the bed, missing the chair and her shoes, and grabbed her shower stuff and slid into her shower shoes. Dorm showers are gross. Even when you only have to share them with two other girls.

After her shower and staring at her clothes like they had wronged her, Morrigan sat down at her beloved monstrosity. Waking the computer up took no time. She checked her e-mail and played a few mindless games before looking for a good story to read. At seven, she glanced at Autumn. _Lucky. Got to sleep._ Autumn rolled over grumbling about something to do with video games. Morrigan shook her head. _What are the odds that two girls who sleep talk room together?_ With nothing else to do, Morrigan packed her bag for History since 1877 and Psychology. She'd catch a ride at nine. Totally out of stuff to do, she zoned out in her chair thinking.

_So there are two guys, Erik and Jareth. One's blonde and really cute. The other is the Phantom…and still cute, though in a much darker way. And that isn't to say that dark is always bad; he was simply darker than Jareth seemed to be. What are the odds that Jareth's the Goblin King? I mean, his name is Jareth. Not exactly your most common name, and he avoided the whole, where are you from question._ He was either the Goblin King or the best impersonator Morrigan had ever seen. Morrigan thought of the Elvis impersonators she had seen versus the video clips of the King...odds were for Jareth being the Goblin King.

Snapping out of her daze, she realized that it was almost eight. Her roommate STILL showed no signs of life. Kinda like herself in Psychology. _Yea, Psychology. Why did that class always go on forever?_ As she reached back to begin fixing her waist length hair, she realized that she liked her _history_ class better. And she hated history.

After another hour of thinking, Morrigan got up and slid into her green jacket. Her hair was back in its customary braid. She grabbed her stuff and stopped at the door with it opened.

"Autumn."

"Nnnng."

"It's nine. Get up and don't miss class."

"Nnnng."

"See ya later." And with that she let the door close behind her, hoping that Autumn didn't sleep through her class. She made her way to the back of the dorm to meet her ride that would take her to the other campus.

Morrigan found the Dodge truck easily. She smiled at Ox as she got into the vehicle. Ox was her mostly reliable Tuesday/Thursday ride to class. He was nice enough but often times misunderstood the fact that girls, especially Morrigan, didn't like other people messing with their hair.

"Greetings and salutations."

"Hi Ox."

Ox just looked at her as he put the truck in drive. Morrigan shifted uneasily in the seat. She wanted to either sleep or zone out. Preferably the first. _He_ was on her mind again. Her current best friend/former boyfriend. She missed not being able to hang out with him seeing as he was still in high school in her hometown. Unfortunately, she was also thinking about being a freak. It happened sometimes. More often lately, those two thoughts had come to her together.

Once they reached the other campus, Morrigan darted away to her History class. It wasn't that she didn't like Ox; it was just strange for her. Not to mention, for once she was looking forward to her history class. They were doing WWI, so it was actually interesting for history. Morrigan smiled as her professor came in. He was great. He always wore Wranglers, cowboy boots, a silver and turquoise watch, and a polo. But that wasn't even why he was awesome as a professor. Morrigan smiled inwardly. He taught much like her grandpa, the WWII vet. There was a friendly, comfortable nostalgia is the way he spoke. He related everything he could back to Texas, and that was fine with her.

Morrigan was surprised, as usual when class ended. It always seemed both long and short. "Oh well. Time always plays tricks on me here. It's like a week goes by in a minute and an hour takes a day."

She gathered her things, and mentally braced herself, for Intro to Psychology. And as she walked out of the Academy she realized braced was the right word. With this wind, she was suddenly very thankful that she always kept her hair in a braid. As she tossed her braid over her shoulder and trudged the few yards to the nearby business building, she saw an elegant black car pull into the parking lot. _What I wouldn't give to ride in a car like that!_ Morrigan thought.

She walked into the lecture hall her class was in and made her way down to the second row. She settled into the seat on the end, leaning back in the chair happily. Ten minutes to boredom. Snapping forward she pulled out her notebook and pen, before twisting in her chair slightly.

"Excuse me." A soft voice said slightly behind her slanted chair.

Morrigan turned her head, and snapped upright. "Sorry. I'm not used to anyone on this row."

Erik looked at her a moment before walking past. She shrugged, tilting her chair back again. Morrigan closed her eyes, _Am I really sitting next to the Phantom in a Psychology class?_ she wondered silently. _Poor guy. I hope no one else finds out who he is._

Suddenly the professor said to get in partners with whoever was sitting nearest you and discuss a way condition a behavior. Morrigan looked at the Phantom. He looked at her startled. A smile grew across her face at the look of terror on his.

"I don't bite...hard." She laughed inwardly as the look on terror grew on his face. "How about conditioning by music?" Morrigan offered, trying to calm the poor boy down. Erik looked at her strangely.

"Music?"

_Or not. Apparently, the Opera Ghost doesn't like music. What's wrong with this picture?_

"Or we could use something else. Chocolate's always good too."

"Music is acceptable. I was merely startled by the suggestion."

"I bet you were." Morrigan smiled knowingly at Erik. "Come on, let's get this done, then you can go back to whatever you were doing and I can go back to pondering the insanity of my roommate."

Erik smiled slightly, then nodded as he pulled out a piece of paper.

An hour later Morrigan was staring at the cloudy grey skies angrily. No ride, and another ten minutes till the shuttle. The wind blasted against her again. _I hate being cold. Why does it have to be cold when I don't have a ride available?_

A sleek black car pulled up in front of her. The window closest rolled down. "Would you like a ride back to campus?" Erik's voice floated out of the car along with the sound of Chopin.

"Ride in a McLaren P11? Most definitely!" Morrigan said looking over the car for a second, her mind wandering back to her best friend. He would be amazed by this. She shook the thoughts away as she gently opened the door and climbed in.

The ride back to campus was awkward, much like class had been. There wasn't any talk, aside from Morrigan commenting on the music and a goodbye when Erik dropped her off behind the dorm.

When Morrigan got back to the room Autumn was there, as usual on Tuesday's, playing Kingdom Hearts.

XxXxX

Autumn awoke suddenly to the sound of her phone alarm going off. Sleepily she opened the phone and switched the alarm off. 9:45... Yet again she was glad she set the alarm in case she didn't wake up when Morrigan left for her class at nine.

She sat in the bed looking at the poster of a guitar on the wall for a few more minutes. Finally, when the haze of sleep left her mind, she jumped out of her bed. She showered quickly and put on her Nine Inch Nails shirt with her faded blue jeans and sat at her desk trying to think if there was homework for her 11:00 class.

When she decided that she didn't she turned her TV on and started playing Kingdom Hearts. At around 10:30 she got up and finished getting ready for class.

Ten minutes before her English Composition class, Autumn took her seat at the front of the room near the far wall. She pulled out a blank piece of computer paper and began drawing. She didn't know what she was drawing; she just let her hand glide over the paper, forgetting about everything else.

She stopped drawing and covered the paper with her binder when the professor came in to start the days lecture. The lecture lasted ten minutes before she told them to get into pairs and work on the questions on page 98 of their book.

Sighing, Autumn turned to the seat next to her to find that the person she usually worked with was not there. She sighed again, realizing that she was going to have to work alone.

"Excuse me," Autumn looked behind her to see Jareth sitting there, "Would you like to work together?" He asked with a smile. Of course Autumn could see through the fake smile and see the sadness in his eyes. He was wearing a mask that she recognized all too well. She had worn that mask for a year after her grandmother died, she still wore it sometimes. His mask was slightly different, but it served the same purpose.

"Sure." she said with a genuine smile and what she hoped was sympathy in her voice.

Halfway through the assignment a boy walked by and accidentally knocked Autumn's things off of her desk. He apologized, but didn't bother to pick her things up for her. Before Autumn had a chance to reach down and grab her things, Jareth picked up the binder and single piece of paper that fell.

"Thanks." Autumn said, taking the things. She set them back on her desk with the drawing on top, not even looking at it.

Jareth however, noticed the picture. "May I?" he asked, pointing to it.

Autumn looked down at the drawing for the first time, having forgotten that she had even been drawing earlier. It was a simple anime drawing with a likeness to a certain Goblin King that was sitting beside her. The man in the picture was standing in a room, placing a clear crystal ball on an end table.

"Sure." Autumn handed the drawing to him. _Oh jeeze… I can't believe I drew him without realizing it… I hope that he doesn't notice that's it's him and asks me about it… I don't know what I would tell him. "Oh hey did I forget to mention that you're a fictional character?" … somehow I don't see that ending too well._

Jareth examined the picture for a few minutes, "This is very well done." He said with a smirk.

"Thank you."

Jareth hesitated for a second, "I know this is rude to ask an artist, but do you mind if I keep it?"

"I don't mind, but I would like to finish it first." Autumn said, surprised that he had asked to keep a rough sketch that wasn't even that great. _Maybe he does know it's him… That can't be good…_

Jareth handed the paper back to Autumn, "That's fine."

"I probably won't be able to finish it today though; I have a Chem. lab at 2." She said as she placed the picture into her binder.

There was a bit of shock in Jareth's eyes, "There's a lab for Chemistry?"

"Yes, it's in the math and science building." Autumn smirked, "And your hair has to be pulled back."

Jareth's face changed from shock to startled, "My hair has to be pulled back?"

Ten minutes later Autumn was back in her dorm room killing heartless in Wonderland.

XxXxX

Music… even after the class was over, it was still bugging Erik that Morrigan had suggested to condition behavior using music. It amazed him that someone else thought similar to the way he did. After all, when the professor said to discuss a way to condition behavior, music was his first thought…

Erik walked to his car and sat in the driver's seat, starting it before he shut the door. He sat there for a second listening to the rich piano of Chopin. He put the car into reverse to back out of the spot he was in and when he looked behind him he saw Morrigan. She was seemingly glaring at the sky standing on the sidewalk, waiting for the shuttle.

_I'm going to regret this._ He thought as he backed out of the spot and pulled up to where she was. He rolled down the passenger side window, "Would you like a ride back to campus?" he asked and her eyes grew in surprise.

"Ride in a McLaren P11? Most definitely!" Her voice was full of awe, but her eyes held a bit of sadness as she looked over the car. After a second, she gently opened the door and climbed into the car.

"Chopin, good choice." Morrigan commented as Erik pulled out of the parking lot.

"Yes." Erik agreed. Unsure as to what else to say, Erik remained quiet the rest of the short trip. Morrigan did as well, and he figured that was because she was scared of him. After all, Erik figured that she only took the ride because of his car.

"Bye." Morrigan said as she climbed out of the car behind the girls' dorm.

"Goodbye." Erik said simply as she closed the door. _Now what? Somehow, I do not think my roommate will believe me if I said I merely happened to give this Mam'selle a ride back to campus. However, it is not as though he does not keep things from me._

Erik pulled his car away from the back door of the girls' dorm. He continued down the back drive towards the music building. _I hope they have a grand, preferably a Kawai or Steinway. _

Two hours, several missed calls, and forty messages later Erik walked out of the music building frustrated. They had a piano. A brand new Steinway even. The instrument was not the problem. Without _her_ he could not compose. He could not even play something simple...such as Moonlight Sonata. It disturbed him that he had lost his music with the loss of his muse.

"Is your phone broken or do I need to break it for you?" Erik turned as he heard the sarcasm dripping from his roommate's words. Jareth was standing in front of him, clearly not amused, with his hair tied back with a hot pink hair-tie. Everything about the blonde's stance screamed annoyance.

"I was composing. And that shade of pink is lovely with your eyes." Erik made to brush past Jareth, but Jareth grabbed his arm.

"Don't _play_ with me piano player. Unless you want me to start making up the terms of the game. Then I'll gladly.._.play_." Jareth's eyes were ice as he looked at his deadly roommate.

Had Erik been a lesser man he would have been terrified. As it was, he was merely wary at the ice-cold grip on his arm. He had dealt with powerful killers before, and had yet to come away seriously hurt. However, seeing as he slept in the same room as his current threat, he thought caution would be wise. Slowly, he lifted his free hand to pry Jareth's fingers off his arm. Erik never once looked away from the deadly pools of ice that were locked on him.

Jareth released Erik as swiftly as he had grabbed him. He pulled the hair-tie out of his hair with one smooth motion and shoved it in his pocket. As he turned away, he called over his shoulder, "I'll make sure to tell the girl I borrowed it from that you said it was my color. I'm sure she'll find something.._.psychological_ to say about it."

Erik walked past his roommate, seriously wondering, not for the first time, why he had ever left the depths of his opera house, much less France.

XxXxX

Jareth walked into his British Literature class in a foul mood. It wasn't even noon and he already regretted getting out of bed. Though not as much as he normally did. He had found himself dreaming of _her_ again... He took a seat somewhere in the back of the room and looked at the board to find one word written, Beowulf.

That was all it took for him to regret showing up for class. Grendel, though distant, was part of his family, and Jareth didn't like the fact that a human had killed him. Now he would have to sit through an hour and a half of hearing about his idiot relative's defeat and the professor's take on the situation. Of course, at least Grendel wasn't beaten by one measly little _girl._

All of the Fae had mocked the way Grendel was killed, and Jareth could only imagine the things they were saying about him. No matter how hard Jareth tried to keep_ her_ out of his life, it all seemed to come back to her.

Jareth was brought out of his thoughts as the professor walked into the room. The professor walked to the front of the room and placed his things on the podium. He pulled out a brown calligraphy pen and began taking roll. "It's good to see that you have joined us, Mr. King. I hope that your tardiness will not reflect on your work ethic this semester."

"Of course not, Sir." Jareth said with little emotion.

The professor continued to take roll before beginning class. The first thing that he did was give some background information on the poem. Once he had done this, he read the first three stanzas before taking volunteers to read. It had just gotten to the part before Grendel's death when Stevens asked Jareth to read.

Grumbling in his mind, Jareth read through Grendel's death quickly and with little emotion. _It isn't bad enough that I can't get _her_ out of my head, but then I have to read the scene where Grendel dies... which inevitably makes me think of her again._ He thought as he zoned out for the remainder of the class, wondering what his acting king was doing.

Class let out ten minutes before his English Composition class, so he decided to take a short walk to clear his head, since the English class was in the same building as the Brit Lit class.

Jareth walked into the class and took one of the only seats available against the far wall in the second row. It was a few minutes later when the professor walked in and gave a small lecture before she instructed the students to get into pairs and work on the questions on page 98 of their book.

He noticed that everyone immediately began moving around the room into happy laughing pairs. He also noticed the girl sitting in front of him look at the empty seat next to her and sigh before looking back at her book.

_I am going to regret this..._ "Excuse me." Jareth said in a soft voice as he placed a relaxed smile on his face. The girl looked at him and he noticed that it was the girl from lunch the day before, Autumn. "Would you like to work together?"

Autumn smiled, "Sure." There was a hint of sympathy in her voice.

_If it's not bad enough that I am having a terrible day, a girl I don't even know is feeling sorry for me..._ Jareth thought as they began to work on the assignment. _I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me._

They had gotten through half of the questions when a child walked by and knocked Autumn's things from her desk. The child did apologize, but he did not bother himself with picking the things up. _Why are humans so rude?_ Jareth thought as he reached down and got them for Autumn.

"Thanks." She said as Jareth handed her the things. She placed them back on the corner of her desk.

Jareth's gaze immediately went to the piece of computer paper on the top. It was a drawing, but he could not quite tell what it was. "May I?" He asked out of curiosity as he pointed at it.

Autumn looked down at the drawing; the first thing that registered on her face was shock, it then went to slight panic as she picked the drawing up. "Sure." She said with a forced smile as she handed the drawing to him.

Jareth looked at the drawing. It was of a man standing a room; he was placing a clear crystal ball on an end table. That was fine, except the man in the drawing held a certain similarity to himself. _This girl has drawn a picture of a man that appears to be me... it is extremely well done, but there is no way that she can know about me. So, how is it that she has drawn me? Perhaps it is merely a coincidence..._

"This is very well done." Jareth told Autumn with a smirk. _Or p__erhaps this human girl is not what she seems to be._

"Thank you." Autumn replied. Jareth got the impression that she wasn't convinced.

He hesitated for a second, "I know that this is rude to ask an artist, but do you mind if I keep it?"

"I don't mind, but I would like to finish it first." Autumn said with surprise clearly lacing her voice. It was obvious to Jareth that the girl did not think highly of the drawing.

"That's fine." Jareth said as he handed it back to her.

"I probably won't be able to finish it today though; I have a Chem. lab at 2." She said as she placed the picture into her binder.

_Chem... lab..._ "There's a lab for Chemistry?" Jareth asked with shock.

"Yes, it's in the math and science building. And your hair has to be pulled back." It didn't escape Jareth's notice that she smirked at the mention of his hair having to be pulled back.

"My hair has to be pulled back?" Jareth asked startled. _I suppose that mocking me is better than feeling sorry for me... though it does not make me feel any better..._ he thought.

It was only a few minutes later that they had finished the assignment. Autumn gathered her things, took the assignment to the professor, and left the room quickly. Jareth walked out of the room and made his way across campus to the cafeteria. On the way, he pulled out his phone and called his roommate.

Jareth sighed as he left a message letting Erik know that he was in the cafeteria and needed to talk to him. He sighed again as he realized that he had forgotten his ID card in his dorm room and had yet to memorize the number. "Just my luck..." He said under his breath as he walked out of the Cafeteria and to Rune Hall.

It only took him a few minutes to get the card and return to the cafeteria, but in that time he called Erik once more and sent him at least fifteen text messages. True this wasn't like Jareth however, he needed someone to vent to and Erik was the only person he could vent to in the human world. He was the only person that knew…

By the time Jareth had gotten back to the cafeteria he had sent ten more text messages. _I'm being ignored…_He thought as he got into the now long line of students, a scowl on his face. Being as he was a king, Jareth had never been ignored before, and it didn't make him feel any better about the day he was having. He didn't enjoy this aspect of the humanity he was attempting to blend with. He wanted to kick something.

Despite the long line, it only took Jareth a few minutes to get inside the cafeteria. He placed his things in the seat of the second booth and went to get his food. _Pizza… Hamburgers… Omelets… how do these humans survive?_ He thought as he grabbed a plate and began putting salad on it.

Once he got back to the table, he pulled out his schedule to check and see if he did indeed have a lab for Chemistry. As he scanned over, he found that there was a lab and it was scheduled for Tuesdays at 2pm… _Great… this is what I get for skipping yesterday… Now I need to find a hair tie…_ He looked around the room, _Perhaps one of the girls will let me borrow one. Although, that means I have to speak to one. _

He turned around to see a girl with long red hair pulled back into a braid down her back. Perhaps _she has an extra one._ He sighed heavily, "Excuse me." He said, just loud enough for her to hear him.

She turned around to look at him, and it was the girl that had ran into him, Morrigan. She looked startled for a second, but then smiled. "Yes?" She tilted her head slightly and looked back at Jareth oddly.

Jareth smiled softly and leaned on the back of the booth, "Do you have a hair tie that I can borrow?" He widened his smile a bit, "I have a chemistry lab and my hair has to be pulled back." He explained.

Morrigan moved away slightly, "I… think so." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her extra hair tie. She looked at it, "I… umm… Sorry, it's pink…" She held it out to him, barely holding it.

"That's alright." Jareth said as he reached out and gently took the hair tie, "Thank you." He smiled warmly. "What time will you be in here tomorrow so I can give it back to you?"

Morrigan shifted slightly, "You can just give it to my roommate…" She said softly. Jareth could tell that she was uncomfortable talking to him, so he just nodded and turned back around to his food.

_Pink?_ He looked at the hair tie. _This isn't just pink… it's hot pink!_ He sighed and looked at his watch. Thirty minutes… He looked up at the ceiling. _Why did I ever leave The Underground?_ He asked himself as he grabbed his untouched plate and stood.

He dropped his plate at the tray drop and walked out of the cafeteria, into the cool day. _What am I supposed to do with thirty minutes when my roommate won't even answer my calls?_ He thought as he pulled out his phone and sent a text message telling Erik to call him as soon as he could.

He looked up at the cloudy sky; _I could always go back Underground…_ He shook the thought away almost instantly. _No, if I did that I would never live it down…_ He smirked softly as he started walking. _Besides, humans are interesting._ He couldn't help thinking about the girl from his English class and her drawing, then about the girl who gave him the ponytail holder. _I just keep running into them…_

_If I went back now I wouldn't be able to find out if that drawing is of me or just scarily similar._ He looked down at the hot pink hair tie. _And I wouldn't be able to give this back._

He walked across the campus attempting to think about the world around him, but with everything that had happened in the day he couldn't keep his mind from wondering back to _her_.

_Why won't he answer me?_ He thought as he sent another text message to Erik. _Well, there isn't much that I can do to get him to answer me now. I need to get to class…_ He looked at his watch. _No, I needed to get to class ten minutes ago…_ He sighed and walked leisurely to the math and science building.

He arrived at the lab just as the professor had gotten there to unlock the door. _Well at least I'm not late to this class…_ he thought as the professor got the door open and the other students started to walk into the lab room. Jareth walked to the professor as the last student walked into the lab.

The professor was about average height. He had black hair that was slicked back professionally. He wore a long lab coat over black slacks and black boots. He smiled at Jareth, "You must be Jareth King." He held out his hand which Jareth took.

"Yes sir." Jareth replied with forced ease.

"I'm Dr. Fletcher." He held out a few pieces of paper, "This is the lab for today, I would like you to find a lab partner and they will explain what we have been doing in class. Tomorrow after class, if you have time, I would like you to come by my office and I can get you caught up."

Jareth took the papers, "I have time." Jareth said simply.

"Good. Have fun with today's lab." Dr. Fletcher said before walking into the room where everyone else was already at work on the lab.

Jareth followed and looked around the room to see if there was anyone without a lab partner. His gaze fell on Autumn who was setting up a Bunsen burner. She was the only person in the room without a lab partner. _I guess I can work with her… I already have once today… Maybe this time she won't pity me…_Jareth thought as he walked over to her. _Perhaps I should ask her who the man in the drawing is._

"Hello again." He said with a charming smile.

Autumn smiled awkwardly, "Hey…" She whispered as she looked up from her work.

Jareth set his things on the table next to her, "It appears that we are again partners." He said simply.

Autumn nodded as she lit the burner, "Looks that way." she said softly.

The lab was awkward at first as Autumn tired to explain what they were going to be doing, but as the time passed Autumn seemed almost happy as she worked with Jareth to finish the experiment. The group behind Jareth had been goofing around and not paying attention to the lab and, just as Jareth and Autumn had finished cleaning up their mess, one of them spilled a hot, liquid acid down the back of Jareth's shirt.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were there!" The girl apologized frantically.

_Well as if the day hasn't been bad enough…_ Jareth thought as the acid began to burn his back.

"Get him to the acid wash!" Dr. Fletcher yelled to Autumn.

Autumn quickly and carefully walked Jareth to the shower in the center of the room. "This will be cold." She said as she pulled the chain, causing freezing water to pour over Jareth.

_Well now there's no hope for fixing my clothes… _He thought as the burning slowly stopped and the water stopped running. Jareth sighed and glared at the floor.

"Are you okay?" Autumn asked as she looked at him, worry clear on her face.

Jareth looked up at her, _What is it with this girl? People don't usually worry about people they don't know…_ He thought as the glare left his face. "I'm fine." He said simply as Dr. Fletcher walked over from yelling at the other kids for messing around in lab.

"We should get you to the nurse." He said looking over Jareth.

Jareth shook his head. _I just want this day over with._ "I'm fine. The acid didn't burn me." He lied.

Dr. Fletcher looked at him unconvinced, "Are you sure? It's a pretty potent acid." He explained.

Jareth nodded. "I'm fine." He repeated. "Really."

Dr. Fletcher nodded. "If you are sure." He said. "Because of this incident I'm exempting you and Autumn from the next lab. You may take that time to do as you wish."

Jareth nodded again. "Thank you." He stepped out from under the shower and walked to his bag without another word. _At least I put my phone in my bag before class…_ He thought as he quickly left the room. He pulled out his phone and called Erik again.

It was about another half an hour before Erik walked out of the music building. Jareth knew that he was there because he went back and watched everything that had happened to Erik that day. "Is your phone broken or do I need to break it for you?" Jareth asked as Erik walked past him.

Erik looked over Jareth, "I was composing. And that shade of pink is lovely with your eyes." He said as he made to brush past Jareth towards the parking lot.

Jareth grabbed Erik's arm tightly. _First he ignores me all day then he disrespects me further by insulting me!_ "Don't _play_ with me piano player. Unless you want me to start making up the terms of the game. Then I'll gladly… _play_." He said his eyes locked with Erik's.

Jareth had enough. He was sick of everything about the human world, but most of all he was sick of himself. He hated how he had let himself fall so low, and because of that he needed someone to vent to and the only person he knew in the human world that would understand was Erik. He had been in a similar situation. But when Erik ignored him it made Jareth madder than anything else that had happened that day.

Erik moved his free hand slowly to pry Jareth's fingers off of his arm, but before he could Jareth calmed himself down a bit and released him swiftly. He pulled the pink hair tie out and shoved it in his pocket as he turned and started to walk away. "I'll make sure to tell the girl that I borrowed it from that you said it was my color. I'm sure she'll find something… _psychological _to say about it." He called over his shoulder.

_He tells me not to involve women and then he goes and gives a girl a ride back to campus._ Jareth thought as Erik walked quickly past him. _I should just go back Underground…_He paused for a second. _No… I can't do that… my 'acting king' would kill me if I did…_

XxXxX

Autumn walked back to the dorm after her lab. She felt oddly sad. She knew that Jareth getting hurt wasn't her fault, but she couldn't help but feel that there was something she could have done to stop it. _Why do I feel like crap even though I know I didn't do it?_ She thought as she walked slowly up the stairs. _Maybe it's because I'm the one that pushed him under the cold water…_

"Fall!" Morrigan said as she opened the door at the top of the stairs. "Come on! Kari's waiting for us in the Caf." She said before dragging Autumn back down the stairs.

Autumn staggered back down, nearly falling on her face. "Hey! Warn me next time!" She said when they reached the bottom.

Morrigan smiled, "I did warn you. I said Kari was waiting for us." She replied as they walked down the hall back to the door.

"Yeah, as you were trying to kill me." Autumn argued, getting her backpack back on her shoulder.

Morrigan shrugged, "It's not my fault you didn't listen to me." Once outside Morrigan smiled at Autumn, "So how was lab?" She asked knowing that Jareth was in her lab.

Autumn fidgeted. "Umm… Jareth's in my lab now…" she said reluctantly as she remembered how mad he seemed to be after acid was spilled on his back.

Morrigan smiled, "I know. I let him use my extra hair tie." She said. "Though it was awkward when he asked for it…" she added as an afterthought.

Autumn shrugged, "That explains why it was hot pink…" she said with an awkward laugh.

Morrigan stopped walking and looked at her friend, "Fall. What happened in lab?" she asked sternly.

Autumn laughed again, "Umm… well someone may or may not have spilled hot acid on Jareth and I may or may not have had to put him under the acid shower…"

Morrigan gasped and started walking again, "They put hot acid on him? Poor boy." She said simply, opening the glass doors to the cafeteria.

"Yeah… and he seemed to be having a really bad day already… He was hiding it, but I could tell…" Autumn explained as she walked through the open door.

Morrigan walked quickly up to the counter, giving the lady her ID card, "You talked to him?" She asked looking around for Kari.

Autumn nodded, "Yeah… he's my new lab partner." She said handing the lady her ID as well.

Morrigan looked back at her with a raise eyebrow, "He's your lab partner?" She laughed, "Man I really feel sorry for him now…" She paused, "Does he know you're a science freak?"

Autumn smiled, "Not unless he got that from today… but he does know I'm an artist…" She said as the two walked to the back of the room where Kari was sitting with Theodore.

"You were drawing in lab?" Morrigan questioned, glancing over her shoulder at Autumn.

Autumn shook her head, "No I was drawing in English… well… before English and then I had to be his partner for our assignment and he saw the picture. He asked if he could keep it…" She explained placing her things in a chair.

"He wanted to keep it? What did you draw?" Morrigan questioned as she place her purse on the table.

"Hey guys!" Kari said excitedly, looking up at her friends.

"Hey Kari." Both girls said at the same time.

Kari shivered, "Do you _have_ to twin talk all the time?"

They both smiled, "Yep." They said before turning and walking away to get their food.

"I'll show you the drawing when we get back to the table… I think it's still in my bag." Autumn said as she walked off to get some pizza while Morrigan went to get a hamburger.

Once back at the table, Autumn opened her bag to see if she had the drawing with her. "Here it is." She said pulling the single piece of paper out.

Morrigan took the paper and looked at it for a long moment. "You drew…_him_?" She looked at Autumn, "Lady, what is your problem?"

Autumn blinked, "You know how I draw… I don't pay attention when I'm drawing I just draw… I didn't even know I had drawn him until he asked to look at it and I picked it up." She paused, "Do you think he realized it was him?"

Morrigan sighed, "He asked to keep it?" Autumn nodded as she took a bite of her pizza. "He realized… Did he ask you about it?"

Autumn shook her head. "No. But he smirked when he said it was good."

"Okay. I have to ask… What _are_ you two talking about?" Kari asked as she looked at her friends confused.

Morrigan shook her head, "Autumn being her usual self and blowing the world up." She said as she handed the paper back to Autumn.

XxXxX

Jareth looked around the destroyed dorm room. He knew he had gone too far breaking everything in the room, but he was upset and a king… so he had a temper tantrum. Nothing new… not recently anyway… Before _her_ he was always composed and seemed to have a handle on his emotions… but now, now he would lose it if someone looked at him wrong. That's most of the reason why his 'Acting King' suggested he spend some time Aboveground… well that and he thought Jareth would find someone to take his mind off of _her._

_Yeah because that's going so well…_ He thought as he sat on his bed and looked down at the pile of keys from Erik's electric keyboard. _I should fix this…_ He thought as he picked up one of the keys. _Why did they have to room me with someone like him?_

Jareth stood as he heard a key in the lock. He looked around the destroyed room and snapped his fingers. Suddenly everything in the room was back to normal, nothing was broken and nothing was out of place. Jareth sighed; _I guess I'm not so angry anymore…_ He thought before looking down at his ruined shirt lying on his bed. _Then again, that was one of my favorite shirts…_

Slowly the door opened and Erik walked in. He looked around the room as if he had seen the mess it was seconds before. He glanced at Jareth, but didn't say anything to him as he walked over to his desk.

_I think it's safe to say he is still angry._ Jareth thought as he looked at Erik glaring at his keyboard. _Then again I would be angry too if he threatened me the way I did him._

Jareth sighed and sat back on his bed again, "Listen Erik. About earlier… I do apologize. I should not have threatened you. Today has been a rather trying day…" it was hard for Jareth to apologize, but he felt it necessary since he was sharing a room with the man he had threatened.

Erik looked up at his roommate his face hard, "I do not take threats lightly Jareth." He said simply.

"I don't expect you to. However, you are the only one here that knows the truth about me, and I do not wish to have you angry with me." Jareth said, his eyes never leaving Erik.

Erik crossed his arm, "So, you aren't apologizing because you're truly sorry, you're apologizing because you want to protect your secret?" Erik laughed humorlessly, "Have you always been this selfish, or is this new for you?"

"I didn't mean it like that. I simply meant that I want us to be friends, or at the very least, get along." Jareth tried to explain.

Erik shook his head, "No, I think you meant that you don't want me to go out and tell people that you aren't human." He stood and walked to the bathroom door, "Well you don't have to worry about that, I don't plan on telling your secret Jareth." He opened the door, "I don't plan on being your friend either." He said before walking into the bathroom and closing the door.

Jareth sighed and looked down at the floor. _So much for that…_ He thought before standing. _Why am I even here? _He asked himself before vanishing.

He reappeared on the roof of Rune Hall. Sitting away from the edge he looked up at the sky. He looked at his hand as a crystal appeared, he knew that he shouldn't, but he couldn't resist he wanted… no he needed to see _her_…

He looked into the crystal and saw her face. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and she was laughing and smiling.

Jareth sighed making the crystal vanish, _She's happy…_ he thought as he lay back on the roof with a frown. He wasn't too sure if this made him feel better or worse. On one hand he was glad that she was happy, after all that's what he had tried his best to do… make her happy… However, on the other hand he resented that she was happy because he was miserable.

_Why can't I just get over her?

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**_A/N:_** Jareth sulking is always a good way to end the chapter :). Don't worry it won't always be like this... Anyways please tell me what you thought of this chapter :D


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